Long way home
by Cat 2
Summary: AU. What if Ryan and Trey were Sandy's sons, who he abandoned? What happens when something terrible happens and Ryan comes looking for his father?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but reviews make me write more

Long way home

The phone woke her. She slipped out from under the covers and stepped over her sleeping brothers to answer it, before it woke them up.

"Hello?"  
"Hey 'Ana." Trey, her oldest brother's voice came down the line. He was trying to sound calm, but a note of panic had invaded his voice.

"Listen, is Ryan there? I need to speak to him."  
"Yeah, give me a min."

She made her way across the floor and gently shook her brother. He rolled over, muttering. She shook him harder.

"Get up you piece of"

Ryan rolled over and was on his feet in instant.  
"Don't you dare finish that sentence." He said, shaking his blonde hair from his eyes. He yanked himself up, his strong build contrasting with his sixteen years.

It was hard to believe look at them that she and Ryan were twins. Ryan was blonde, with their mother's blue eyes, whereas Rhiannon more resembled their absent father. Or so people said. Her father had last being around when Carlos was born, when she and Ryan were 3. She didn't remember him.

She shrugged.

"Trey's on the phone."

Ryan was on his feet and by the phone in a second. Trey had been out of contact for nearly 3 days, long even for him.

"Trey? What's wrong? Where are you?" he was forced to keep his voice down, to avoid waking them, while Rhiannon shook Carlos awake. If A.J. heard Trey's voice, there would be violence.

"Hey little bro. everything's fine." It was a lie, and they both knew it. Could hear it in his voice. "Look. You done what I told you?"

"Yeah." Ryan glanced across at the 3 backpacks that lay near the door. Each contained their most prized processions.

"Go to the desk."

Their dad's desk was located in the living room, same as where they slept.

"Third drawer."

Rhiannon opened the drawer. A long envelope lay there. She opened it.

"There's instructions in there. Get out!"

"Will you be coming with us?" Carlos demanded, ignoring the attempts of his siblings to shh him.

There was a pause.

"I don't know. You be good. Do what Ana and Ryan tell you, O.K.?"  
"Kay." Carlos said, uncertainly passing the phone back to Ryan.

"Listen Ryan, there's some bad shit going down O.K.? I need you guys out of there. Everything's going to be O.K., O.k.? I just need you to take Rhiannon and Carlos safe."  
Ryan nodded. He knew some of the stuff Trey had done was linked to bad people, drugs and the like.

"Look just..."he felt his throat tighten, "be careful."  
Trey's laugh at the other end sounded almost normal.

"Always am Bro'. And look," he added. "I'm sorry. For everything." He hung up.

Ryan glanced at his sister. She broke open the envelope. It contained 3 bus tickets and an address on an internet print out. There was also an envelope with a name written on it. A name they had only ever seen on official documents, and even then only when absolutely necessary. Their father's name. Sandy Cohen.

Ococcocoococococo

Carlos dozed on the seat, as the bus left the station.

"Born in an earthquake and could sleep though one." Their mother always said. Rhiannon had no worries about him. She glanced across at Ryan, who was resting his head against the window. He wasn't asleep, but he didn't want to talk to her.

They'd already had an argument before the bus left about the wisdom of Trey's plan. Rhiannon didn't' think this was a good idea. Their father had, she argued, made it perfectly clear that he wanted nothing to do with them. Why should he suddenly decide he did, purely on grounds of a letter that they hadn't read?  
Ryan's argument was simple. They had no other options. They both knew, or could guess the trouble Trey was in. If they stayed, they might be caught up in it.

Knowing the truth didn't make it any easier.

Which was why Ryan's hand unconsciously plucked at the leather band around his wrist, a gift from Trey, years ago. She gently slid her hand out and grasped his.

"We'll be O.K." she said firmly, withdrawing a pair of envelopes from her jacket.

"References and Contacts from Samson and Rosa. Push comes to shrove; we spend the night in a shelter and get work tomorrow." She glanced nervously at her brother. Both were 16, but Ryan's build and her development meant that they could both easily pass for older.

He nodded, turning to face her. They were alright. They now had a plan. Not much of a plan, but still.

They'd done more with a lot less.

Ococococococoocococococco

"No Way!" Rhiannon said, as she yanked the sleeping Carlos along with her. "Trey must have made a mistake. He can't live here."

She gazed around. This was a world away from their home. Chevy and Fords were replaced by Mercedes, Ranger drovers and BMWs. The Grey which had been a part of their lives since they could remember was now golden. The houses...it took all of their courage not to run. The nicest house either of them had ever seen had been Ryan's on again, off again girlfriend, Theresa's with its screen door and metal sliding doors and some actual grass in their front yard, rather than just dirt. But these houses screamed money.

In answer Ryan pointed to the mail box. Cohen's it said.  
Rhiannon raised an eyebrow.

"I stand corrected."

Ryan desperately leaned up and pushed the buzzer built into the wall.

"Yes?!" a polite voice asked, and he almost lost his nerve. Then he saw Carlos half asleep against the wall, and Rhiannon with two rucksacks slung over her thin shoulders.

"Hi! I'd like to speak to Sandy Cohen."  
"Can't it wait?" the voice made Ryan aware for the first time that it was well after midnight.

"No it can't." He said, with more confidence than he felt. "Tell him it's his son, Ryan Cohen.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow! Overwhelmed by the response to this story. I honestly started it with only a limited idea where this was going, which is why I haven't updated for a while. Hope it was worth the wait.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but reviews make me write more

SMASH!

There was, Rhiannon thought, some comfort in the fact that however much money you had, argument were still the same. The china probably cost more, but the arguments, the excuses and the apologies were the same.

She sat in between her brothers and gazed across at the…well she supposed he was her brother too, but the dark curling hair boy who sat opposite her was a stranger.

Ryan on her right was a coiled spring, a fish out of water, determined to protect his younger siblings, but with no idea how to do it. Carlos had hidden his head in her side.

At first, as she suspect Mr Cohen (she couldn't, she wouldn't think of him as "Dad) had tried to deny it. But when confronted with the paternity test, he had been forced to admit the truth. That during the past 18 years, he'd had a relationship with their mother. It had been then that the china started flying.

"So…" the kid, despite him being at least her age, he seemed much younger, said. "What's your name?"

Ryan's eyes flashed up cautiously regarding this stranger.

"Ryan." He said.

"I'm Rhiannon. And this is Carlos."

There was no point in being rude. And she nudged Carlos, who muttered

"Hi."

"I'm Seth."

They fell back into silence, as the screams of Mrs Cohen echoed.

"Get out! I don't care what the neighbours think. Get out! Get rid of them!"

"Think that's our marching orders." Rhiannon muttered to Ryan. She couldn't even summon up the energy to say I told you so.

He nodded, getting to his feet, while she shook Carlos awake.

"You're leaving?!" the kid sounded confused and surprised.

They exchanged looks for a moment before Rhiannon spoke.

"Look, Seth. Just tell your mom we're sorry about this, and that she should forget tonight. It was a stupid idea and I don't know why Trey even thought it would work."  
"Where will you go?"

Ryan answered this time.  
"To a shelter. Spend the night there, and," he shrugged. "Start looking for work tomorrow."

"Do you even know where the shelter is?"  
"We found here didn't we?" the anger in Rhiannon voice was cover for her fears. She recognised the situation. They were alone, in a strange town at midnight. For all their talk of shelters, the streets were the more probably option, and while they'd done it before, it didn't mean they had to like it.

"Precisely." Seth said. He sighed and ran his fingers though his hair. Like Ryan's it was in need of a cut.

"Look, at least stay the night. If you're still convinced you won't stay in the morning, then you can look for work. I'll help!" he added brightly.

Rhiannon's smile was sad.

"Honey a night isn't going to change how your mom feels about being cheated on."  
"Maybe." Seth admitted. "But she'll never forgive herself if you leave now."

The three exchanged looks acknowledging their situation.

"Come on." Seth said, reaching for the key. "You can sleep in the pool house."

Rhiannon hung back for a moment, slipping Trey's unopened letter on to the table, before following her brothers out.

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Kirsten Cohen lay on her bed, crying.

She had known about Trey. Sandy had been perfectly frank with her that he had had a child by another woman, but he had promised her that it had been over for years and that he'd never even seen the child. The letter in her father's handwriting, enclosed along with the paternity test told her that he'd lied. That he had seen her again. Since their marriage. Since Seth's birth.

She wanted to hate him. To hate her. To hate them. Instead she just felt like an idiot.

And betrayed. That her father had known about it and not told her. That Sandy had kept this from her.

"Would," a voice inside her asked, "you have believed or done anything about it if they had?"

She didn't like admitting it, but the answer was probably no.

Sitting up, she did the math. The older boy and the girl were about the same age as Seth, possibly a few months younger.

She shivered. Thinking of the time after Seth's birth wasn't something she liked to do. She'd been a mess.

And the younger boy, he… she closed her eyes. He must have been conceived when she was battling alcohol.

Getting rapidly to her feet, she stared in the mirror.

Was this her fault? Had she pushed Sandy away?  
She had to find out.

Quickly she headed down to the kitchen. Sandy sat at the table, just as she had left him, with a letter from…from his son, she thought desperately. He lifted his head as she entered, but didn't look at her, so much as through her.

"We have to call the police." He said.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

As ever, Wow! I wish I knew what I'd done to make you guys like this story so much, so I could duplicate it. Please check out some of my other fan fics. As ever Reviews please my muse and make her more co operative.

Now a style note. the first part of this chapter takes place with Ryan and Rhiannon being interviewed separately at a police station. I sorry if this is tough to read, but it's the way I saw it happening.

Chapter 3

"Did you know that your brother owned an unregistered gun?"  
"You don't have to answer that!"

Ryan resisted the urge to roll his eyes at this statement. Whatever Sandy might think, he was not an idiot.

"Fine. Did you know your brother owned a gun?"

* * *

"Yes." Rhiannon sitting in the room opposite replied.

"What kind?"  
"I don't know. I don't know much about guns."

"Did you know it was unregistered?"  
"No. I only saw it once, twice, four times maximum."

"Were you aware that your brother was in debt?"

* * *

There was, Ryan thought, no point in denying this.

"Yeah."

"Did you know to whom?"

* * *

"He never told us."

Which was the truth. Rhiannon thought, coolly. They had known who it was, but Trey had never admitted it.

"Did you ask him?"  
"Once or twice."  
"What happened?"

Rhiannon bit her lip.

"He told me not ask again."  
"Was he violent?"

* * *

"Towards who?" Ryan asked. Sandy was at the same time impressed and worried, as this kid, his son, was obliviously a pro at this.

"You, your brother, your sister, your mother…"

* * *

"He protected us!" Rhiannon was getting angry. Rachel held up her hand, trying to calm her, but she ignored her.

"When mum's boyfriends went for us, he tried to stop them."

* * *

"What about the man found with your mother?" the detective asked, consulting his notes. "Adrian James Pullman?"  
"What about him?"  
"What was his relationship with your mother?"  
Ryan was silent, but in his shoes his toes curled desperately.

* * *

"He was her boyfriend."  
"Was he ever violent towards you or your mother?" the female detective asked.

Rhiannon snorted.

"All the men my mom's brought home were violent towards her. Most were violent towards us too."  
"Does," Rachael Hoffman asked, half afraid of the answer. "That include Sandy Cohen?"

Rhiannon gazed down into her lap.  
"no." she admitted. "But he was the reason she was so messed up."

* * *

The police and the lawyers stood alone in the room.

"Bottom line, Mr. Cohen, whatever we believe, we could never prove it."  
"You don't think they're guilty? Come on, they were half way across the country when it happened."  
"Exactly." The female detective had taken a seat. "It looks like your son knew that bad people were after him, and tried to save his siblings."  
"But…"  
"But it could also be that he got them out of the way and then killed his mother and her boyfriend, then killed himself. This may, or may not have been self defence…" the detective held out his hand in apology and then returned to more mundane details.

"You are, as far as we can tell, the children's only relative." Sandy nodded.  
"Dawn was an only child; her parents had been dead for years."

The detective nodded.

"We're trying to trace Frank Atwood, her ex-husband, who may or may not be the father of the youngest child."

Sandy shook his head.  
"Dawn said that he was mine. She wouldn't lie to me."

Neither of the detectives agreed with this, but they merely resumed their talk.

* * *

Kirsten stood at the turn of the stairs watching.

In the light of day there could be no doubt.

The girl, Rhiannon, she was the spit of Sandy, right down to the wave in the dark curls.

When Seth and Ryan sat like that, so close together, their faces twisted with concentration, you couldn't help but know they were brothers.

The little one, she was less sure of. His hair was dark like Sandy's, but he looked more like his older brother.

She swallowed.

Sandy had vanished since they'd returned from the police station, and it had been Seth who suggested that they play a game on the Play Station. Rhiannon sat, mending something, watching them and Carlos was leaning against her.

She should have been getting some work done, but she couldn't. She'd sat at the desk and wandered what they were going to do.

There was no way they could turn them out. Even if they hadn't been Sandy's children, they were all alone in the world. And no matter how old they acted they were just kids. And as much victims in this situation as she was.

She had read the copy of the letter the police had given Sandy after they left. If the author, Trey, was to be believed, Sandy had never sent a penny of child support and hadn't been seen since Carlos was born.

The girl had touched her brother's shoulder and said something to him. She got to her feet and…was heading this way.

Quickly Kirsten all but ran up stairs to her office.

She had barely sat down at her desk, when there was a knock on the door.

"Mrs. Cohen." Rhiannon stood in the doorway, nervous and uncomfortable but determined.

"I was wandering if you'd like some dinner?"  
"Dinner?" she heard herself repeat.

Rhiannon nodded.

"It's almost 6 o'clock."

Glancing at the travel alarm clock she kept on her desk, she realised it was true.

"Oh god, I didn't realise…" she began, but Rhiannon interrupted.

"I'm just about to start dishing up, I just wandered if you were hungry."  
"You cooked?" Kirsten asked, her voice, god help us, sounding just like her mother's. Rhiannon nodded, gaining confidence.

"My mom, she wasn't often well, so Ryan and I, we'd take care of ourselves."

Give and take. That was the advice her mother had given her on her wedding day. This was one of the times to give.

"That's sounds lovely." She pushed the papers she spread out over her desk into a pile and got to her feet.

They walked down the landing in silence, but as they reached the stairs, Rhiannon pause.

"Mrs. Cohen, I just want you to know that this wasn't our idea."  
"I know." Kirsten replied.

"Trey didn't mean to cause trouble; he just didn't know what else to do. And," the child was drawing breath, gathering her courage together. "My mom loved Sandy very much. She'd kill Ryan and me, if she thought that we were the reason his marriage broke up."

Kirsten had no idea what to say to this, so she nodded and headed down to the kitchen, where delicious smells were emulating.

"Is that," she asked, sniffing the air. "Clam chowder?"  
Nervously Rhiannon nodded.  
"You had some clams in the freezer and it was quick and easy to do. I suppose," she said, her face frowning. "I should have asked.  
"No. no." Kirsten hastened to reassure her. "It's just; it's been a long time since I had it."

Rhiannon suddenly smiled, completing her transformation into a female Sandy.  
"Well sit down. This'll knock your socks off."  
And she was right.

TBC


End file.
